


Request

by TheCanStander



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Other, Vitality ain't taking SHIT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22234822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCanStander/pseuds/TheCanStander
Summary: The Pale King receives an unwanted message.
Kudos: 22





	Request

He opened the door and slipped inside, watching as it closed with a soft _click._ The king let out a sigh of relief. At last, he was alone. Alone, with nobody but his thoughts.

A shuffle. He froze.

He wasn’t alone.

When he’d fully rotated himself, he saw the source of the noise. A courtier, with their long white robes and ornate mask, sat nonchalantly in a chair by the window. Normally, such a posture would be chastised, the lack of respect for the king appalling, punishable by such a shunning the perpetrator would take their own lives. He himself would not have allowed such dishonour. The courtier would not have allowed themselves to do this. But he knew this was a different case. He could see their eyes were orange.

That wasn’t a courtier sitting before him.

The white-clad bug turned to stare him in the eye, in a movement so slow and deliberate it was not natural. They said nothing.

And then:

**“Hello, father.”**

_“You,”_ The Pale King hissed. Of course, it had to be the vessel. Come again to attempt murder a second time, perhaps? He had not forgotten that moment where a servant had thrust a knife near his heart, and the dissonant voice that had crept from their mouth. Their pitiful begging after the vessel had released them still weighed heavy on his mind.

**“You will not even give me a ‘hello, child?’”** In that same eerie tone the vessel responded, through the possessed courtier. **“I expected no less from you, thoughtless one.”**

The king bristled at the comment. He was not _thoughtless._ “What are you doing here?”

**“I am here to see my father. That is reason enough.”**

“No, you are not here for that,” He needed to move, do something besides being at the mercy of an enemy that was not even here. But he would not move.

_I cannot let it win,_ The Pale King thought, with fury, with vengeance. His body responded with only fear.

The courtier eyed the study. It was a vast room, one that spanned for a mile above and took up several square feet of the fiftieth level. The king had it made this way out of some yearning of his, that dislike for small spaces he once could not occupy: his days as a wyrm still lingered in his instincts. Massive bookshelves and desks decorated the area, towering high, though barely reaching the ceiling. None of the furniture in here took up any space. This room was more empty than full.

They got up from where they sat in one fluid motion. The Pale King observed this with unease. The last time they had possessed someone, the victim had little smoothless to their movements. This was… This was something else, something _more._ The vessel was learning.

_And learning fast._

A small hand picked up a goblet from a nearby table, twirling it this way and that with curiosity.

**“Lovely cup,”** They said as they inspected it. **“Ornate making. And the clothing you give your subjects; all white, pure and long. Interesting aesthetic appeal.”**

_What would a vessel know- No, WHY would a vessel know about aesthetic? Or appearance?_

_Just how bug-like have they become?_

“What do you _want_?” He demanded.

**“Let me enjoy what I do not have first. I will tell you later.”**

They said this, as if addressing a petulant child. The Pale King forged on.

“Tell me-” He could not believe he would say this, but he raised his arm and pointed it at the bug. “-or I will blast that courtier and sever the connection, and you will lose your chance to say what you wanted to say.”

**“You would do that to your precious subject.”**

“I would do it if it meant spiteing you.”

With a _tch,_ they put down the goblet. **“Again, you have met my expectations. So cruel, father.”**

“And _stop_ referring to me as your father.”

**“You are in no position to demand that.”**

“You are in no position to do anything to me.”

**“Am I?”** They began to stride closer to the Pale King, hands clasped behind their back. The naturalness of the walk only made him more nervous. **“You think that I cannot have this bug attempt to strangle you? And if you were to kill them to defend yourself, do you think you could live with that? Can you bear to hear their cries?”**

They dropped to their knees and put on a face of pitiful begging. In the voice of the courtier they wept, _wept._ The vessel had forced them to _cry._ **“** **_‘Your Reverence! Please- Please, I meant not to hurt you! I did not know what came over me, but I struck and- oh, forgive me!’_ ** **”**

A sick feeling brewed in his stomach. _No, no, no no no._

“Stop that,” He said, tone strangled like he had swallowed something disgusting.

**_“I beg your mercy, Your Reverence! I know of your grandeur, your magnificent guidance, and hear that I would never dare slight you!”_ **

“I said _stop.”_

**_“Stop- stop what, My King? I meant not to hurt you, I swe-”_ **

_“Stop that! Stop it! Stop what you are doing!”_ No more! No more! The Pale King’s voice boomed through the cavernous study. He could not stand a second more of this perverted nonsense! “What do you _want,_ you _sick twisted_ creature?”

The courtier stopped begging. Their face paused midway through a cry, then smoothed out into a placid, unrattled calm. They got up.

**“There it is:** **_creature_ ** **. Sick. Twisted,”** A flicker of fury broke through, then disappeared into the tranquility again. **“Of course.”**

“Just-” The king was breathing hard now. When would this end? He was a being of great strength and will and- no, he did not want this any longer! Why would his progeny not leave him alone? “-Tell me what you _want!_ When will you be satisfied with your _sadistic_ torturings?”

**“What do I want?”**

“What do you _want?”_

A pause.

Five minutes passed.

Ten minutes passed.

Twenty minutes passed. The Pale King stared at the courtier, body tensed, claws ready to reach out and strike if need be. He has never felt more anxious in his life.

Finally, the vessel spoke.

**“There is much I have to say. Firstly, a request,”** Lazily, the vessel moved the courtier right up to the king, so that all he could see were the marigold rings in their eyes, pulsing, glowing, promising. **“I have a name, and I would greatly appreciate it if you stopped referring to me as an ‘it.’”**

“You have a name,” He breathed. That was it, that was all they were here for.

They leaned in, their voice low. **“It is Vitality. Given to me by the bug you killed.”**

The Pale King looked at them in disbelief. Ah yes, he remembered the knight. That strange bug with the golden fur, hailing from the Hive. His blood had flowed rich and thick upon the floor of the Black Egg Temple when the king had torn his throat open; an execution for a traitorous act, the only appropriate end for a traitor like him. He had never once stopped to wonder why the warrior had stolen the vessel.

**“You remember him, I am sure. Your reception to his actions had been violent. He was executed right on the floor of the temple.”**

“Why do you tell me this?” The king said accusingly. “Do you want me to feel guilt for killing him?”

**“He cared for me, father, as I cared for him.”**

Cared? _Cared?_ He wanted to think it had been one-sided, that the knight had made some erroneous mistake and spirited the vessel - no, _Vitality._ He could not believe they had a name - away out of misguided honour. But no, that was not the case. From the way they said it, it was something else.

He had no choice but to admit the truth.

“You loved him,” He breathed.

**“Correct. And you killed him.”**

“...Is that why you continue to plague my kingdom? Because your heart would not let you do otherwise?”

**“It is not just that,”** The courtier stepped away, then placed their hands behind their back. They paused. The Pale King wished that they did not pause so often; it was not helping his anxiety.

**“...You saw me as nothing more than a tool. To you, I was your weapon against an ancient evil. And a weapon needs no love.”** Their voice was a breathless whisper, and although it was calm one could easily sense the barely contained rage. This was a sensitive topic for Vitality. **“When Helian stole me away, I had hope that I could be someone at last. But then** **_you_ ** **come along, take the love of my life, force a god into my body and chain me away to be** **_forgotten_ ** **by a kingdom I never asked to** **_save!”_ **

Those final sentences were said in an explosive burst. The king stumbled back at their anger.

**“Imagine my anger as I lay trapped in that egg…”** It was a slow song, trembling with violence and malice, pitching up and down like a boat on a turbulent sea. **“The thoughts I had, my questions of** **_why?_ ** **My wants of…** **_revenge._ ** **But I could not do anything to vent my frustrations, only think, and stew in silence.**

**“And then…** **_She_ ** **came.”**

He could not help himself when he uttered her name. “...The Radiance.”

**“Yes… She sensed my turmoil, and came from the darkness. She was so sympathetic to my anger, the goddess understood what I had gone through. After all, She too were a victim of yours, having lost everything thanks to you. She offered me a deal. Together, She told me, we would break free from this prison, and I would help her be remembered in exchange for revenge upon the bugs whom I owe nothing to.**

**“I told her we could simply destroy the Wyrm and his legacy once and for all. She thought it was a brilliant idea.**

**“We struck the deal, She gave me Her powers and I was Her sword to slay the beast.”**

The Pale King figured Vitality meant him when he said “the beast.” It made him irritated, to hear himself being referred to as the monster, when really it was Vitality and the Radiance who were the beasts. Them, with their violent conquest, ruining the peace of his kingdom; anyone could see their fiendish ways.

“You will fail,” That was all he could think of to say. It was right, however. They would fail, the Vessel and the Old Light. “You may think your alliance will give you the strength you need, but that is false. You may infect the kingdom, but we will resist the infection. You may slay my soldiers, but destroy my army and you will have _me_ to contend with. This crusade of yours will _not_ succeed.”

The courtier’s face was an amused one. The corner of their mouth twitched up ever so slightly. But they did not laugh, only shook their head.

**“Are you so sure that** **_we_ ** **will fail? Words are not anything, father,”** They responded. Vitality made the bug lift a hand, then clenched it into a fist. **“But actions are.”**

**“Your efforts will be naught in the end. Each day I grow stronger with every infected bug. The diseased grow in number all the time, and soon they will overrun your soldiers, knights and scholars, until there is no one left in this kingdom.**

**“When that time comes, I will come to you, and kill you to bring Hallownest to its knees once and for all.”**

The message sent a chill up the Pale King’s spine, even though he knew full well he should not believe it.

He could not stop himself from shivering.

**“That is all I have to say,”** Vitality gave him a mocking salute. **“Until next time, father dearest.”**

Then the courtier’s eyes began to flicker, until the orange ring disappeared completely. They blinked confusedly, until they registered the king before them.

Yelping, the bug immediately got to their knees. “You- Your Reverence! I had not realized you needed me! My apologies, I have not been sleeping well, I must have zoned out!”

But the Pale King did not respond.

“...Your Reverence?”

_When that time comes, I will come to you, and kill you to bring Hallownest to its knees once and for all._ Vitality’s words continued to echo in his ears. That did not sound like a promise, or a threat. It sounded like fate. It would come for him either way. His progeny, his mistakes, would be the death of his kingdom. His legacy would be ruined by the workings of another god.

He could not let that happen.


End file.
